'Jacques Brel' alive, well in New York

Published 12:00 am, Sunday, April 2, 2006

Love songs may strike a universal chord, but few capture the aching hope and heartbreak of romance and loss like those of the Belgian-born, Parisian-bred Jacques Brel.

In 1968, his songs, which had been the toast of Europe for almost 20 years, were introduced to American audiences in an off-Broadway revue titled "Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living in Paris."
Eric Blau
and Brel's friend
Mort Shuman
adapted the French lyrics into English, and the composer's music spoke for itself. The show ran for more than four years and became something of a cult favorite with lovers and performers alike.
A longtime performer in smoke-filled cabarets who was seldom without a Gauloise hanging from his lips, Brel died of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 49.
There hasn't been a major New York appearance of his evergreen show for 10 years, so the opening of a terrifically sung revival Monday night at the
Zipper Theatre
in New York City is cause for celebration. Vive La France!
Vive Jacques Brel
!
Since bistros are in short supply in New York, the Zipper is the perfect setting for the show. I've described this funky showplace before, but imagine, if you can, a junkyard, auto repair shop and yard sale all in one.
It's on West 37th Street, in the heart of the garment district, and you enter through an unassuming building lobby to discover a dark center space dominated by a bar that will remind travelers of the
Left Bank
in Paris.
The seats inside the intimate theater, an eclectic mix of old car seats, picnic benches and chairs of every ilk, are cozy and close to the stage. All that's missing is a cloud of cigarette smoke - a harmless fog at the beginning of the show is a healthy substitute.
"Jacques Brel" features four performers: two men and two women, with one couple representing mature, world-weary adults, the other, wounded newcomers to the arena of personal relationships.
Robert Cuccioli
,
Natascia Diaz
,
Rodney Hicks
and
Gay Marshall
are the singer/actors, and all four have powerful voices they harness to dizzying effect.
Eric Svejcar
leads a three-piece band that is perched on a small platform above and to the left of the playing area and provides accordion-infused backup.Svejcar proves to be an accomplished singer himself, appropriating one of the show's best known numbers, "If We
Only Have Love
," and singing it quite nicely.
Costumes by
Mattie Ullrich
nail the 1960s, with Cuccioli's skinny tie and Diaz's short trench coat dead giveaways of the Mod period.
Brel's lyrics turn each song into a mini-portrait of life and character, and his emotional seesaw tips from joy to sadness. The 27 numbers mix elements of the ballad, tango, bolero, rock, and children's songs - and if you hear the sound of a carousel in the background, that's Paris, n'est pas?
When the show opened in the late '60s, the air was still poisoned by the lingering effects of the war in Vietnam. It's ironic and sad that songs reflecting that malaise now fit current times.
"La Diable," or "The Devil," sung in French and English by Marshall, suggests "men kill each other willingly, then pray for peace in loud laments."
But it was making and losing love, not war, that Brel focused on, and under the smooth and sensitive direction of
Gordon Greenberg
the lyrics make the case that taking a chance on love is a dangerous business.
Greenberg has put his own stamp on this revue, rearranging the playing order of the songs, changing the tempo of several, and even cutting out "Marathon," which used to open the evening.
When not front and center, the players clutch a glass of wine or whiskey and step back into the shadows of
Robert Bissinger
's bric-a-brac setting.
Cuccioli, who had fans waiting outside the stage door for years when he starred in "Jekyll & Hyde," turns up the volume and the passion in "Jackie" and "(The Port of) Amsterdam."
Marshall, who has portrayed
Edith Piaf
many times on stage, demonstrates perfect French diction in "Ne Me Quitte Pas (If You Go Away)." Her small frame and steely voice easily summon up memories of the famous French "sparrow."
Fans of the show have their own favorites, whether it be the darkly romantic "Fanette" or the frisky "Marieke." None will be disappointed in the spirited renditions of "Madeleine" or "Brussels," and few will leave without humming or whistling Brel's best known tune:
"If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun and the stars."

"Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris" is playing at the Zipper Theatre, 336 W. 37th St., New York City. Performances are Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Tuesdays and Sundays at 7 p.m., and matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 3. Tickets are $65; call Telecharge at (212) 239-6200, or purchase them online at
www.telecharge
.com.